Landscape Pattern – Marl Prairie/Slough Gradient: Vegetation Composition along the Gradient and Decadal Vegetation Change Pattern in Shark Slough: Annual Report 2012

In the southern Everglades, vegetation in both the marl prairie and ridge and slough landscapes is sensitive to large-scale restoration activities associated with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) authorized by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2000 to restore the south Florida ecosystem. More specifically, changes in hydrologic regimes at both local and landscape scales are likely to affect vegetation composition along marl prairie-slough gradient resulting in a shift in boundary between plant communities in these landscapes. To strengthen our ability to assess how vegetation would respond to changes in underlying ecosystem drivers along the gradient, an improved understanding of reference conditions of plant community structure and function, and their responses to major stressors is important. In this regard, a study of vegetation structure and composition in relation to physical and biological processes along the marl prairie-slough gradient was initiated in 2005, and has continued through 2012 with funding from US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) (Cooperative Agreement # W912HZ-09-2-0018 Modification No.: P00002). This study addresses the hypothesis with respect to RECOVER-MAP monitoring item 3.1.3.5 – “Marl Prairie/Slough Gradients; patterns and trends in Shark Slough marshes and associated marl prairies”.

Changing Bacterial Growth Efficiencies across a Natural Nutrient Gradient in an Oligotrophic Estuary

Recent studies have characterized coastal estuarine systems as important components of the global carbon cycle. This study investigated carbon cycling through the microbial loop of Florida Bay by use of bacterial growth efficiency calculations. Bacterial production, bacterial respiration, and other environmental parameters were measured at three sites located along a historic phosphorus-limitation gradient in Florida Bay and compared to a relatively nutrient enriched site in Biscayne Bay. A new method for measuring bacterial respiration in oligotrophic waters involving tracing respiration of 13C-glucose was developed. The results of the study indicate that 13C tracer assays may provide a better means of measuring bacterial respiration in low nutrient environments than traditional dissolved oxygen consumption-based methods due to strong correlations between incubation length and δ13C values. Results also suggest that overall bacterial growth efficiency may be lower at the most nutrient limited sites.

Leaf Functional Traits and Forest Structure of Tropical Dry Forest Species Along a Rainfall Gradient in Florida and Puerto Rico

This study examined how different rainfall regimes affect a set of leaf functional traits related to plant stress and forest structure in tropical dry forest (TDF) species on limestone substrate. One hundred fifty eight individuals of four tree species were sampled in six ecological sites in south Florida and Puerto Rico, ranging in mean annual rainfall from 858 to 1933 mm yr-1. Leaf nitrogen content, specific leaf area (SLA), and N:P ratio of evergreen species, but not deciduous species, responded positively to increasing rainfall. Phosphorus content was unaffected in both groups. Canopy height and basal area reached maxima of 10.3 m and 31.4 m2 ha-1, respectively, at 1168 mm annual rainfall. Leaf traits reflected soil properties only to a small extent. This led us to the conclusion that water is a major limiting factor in TDF and some species that comprise TDF ecosystems are limited by nitrogen in limestone sites with less than ~1012 mm rainfall, but organismal, biological and/or abiotic forces other than rainfall control forest structure in moister sites.

Effects of ocean acidification on embryonic respiration and development of a temperate wrasse living along a natural CO2 gradient

Volcanic CO2 seeps provide opportunities to investigate the effects of ocean acidification on organisms in the wild. To understand the influence of increasing CO2 concentrations on the metabolic rate (oxygen consumption) and the development of ocellated wrasse early life stages, we ran two field experiments, collecting embryos from nesting sites with different partial pressures of CO2 [pCO2; ambient (400 µatm) and high (800-1000 µatm)] and reciprocally transplanting embryos from ambient- to high-CO2 sites for 30 h. Ocellated wrasse offspring brooded in different CO2 conditions had similar responses, but after transplanting portions of nests to the high-CO2 site, embryos from parents that spawned in ambient conditions had higher metabolic rates. Although metabolic phenotypic plasticity may show a positive response to high CO2, it often comes at a cost, in this case as a smaller size at hatching. This can have adverse effects because smaller larvae often exhibit a lower survival in the wild. However, the adverse effects of increased CO2 on metabolism and development did not occur when embryos from the high-CO2 nesting site were exposed to ambient conditions, suggesting that offspring from the high-CO2 nesting site could be resilient to a wider range of pCO2 values than those belonging to the site with present-day pCO2 levels. Our study identifies a crucial need to increase the number of studies dealing with these processes under global change trajectories and to expand these to naturally high-CO2 environments, in order to assess further the adaptive plasticity mechanism that encompasses non-genetic inheritance (epigenetics) through parental exposure and other downstream consequences, such as survival of larvae.

Unusual, basin-scale, fluid–rock interaction in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : Preservation in calcite δ18O of an ancient high geothermal gradient

Acknowledgements We acknowledge financial support from ICDP for the drilling programme. AEF, ATB and ARP thank NERC for financial support through NE/G00398X/1. VAM thanks the Norwegian Research Council for financial support through 191530/V30. We are grateful for sample preparation and analyses to all the personnel at NGU lab. At SUERC we enjoyed exceptional analytical support from Julie Dougans. Anonymous reviewers and the editor provided comments that improved the final manuscript.

Gradient artérioveineux et concentrations interstitielles des bloqueurs neuromusculaires au niveau du muscle : impact sur la modélisation pharmacocinétique-pharmacodynamique

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Three Essays on the Effects of Donor Supplied Contraceptives on Fertility, Usage, and Attitudes

After the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, there have been major strides in advancing the family planning agenda for low and middle-income countries worldwide. Much of the existing infrastructure and funding for family planning access is in the form of supplying free contraceptives to countries. While the average yearly value of donations since 2000 was over 170 million dollars for contraceptives procured for developing countries, an ongoing debate in the empirical literature is whether increases in contraceptive access and supply drive declines in fertility (UNFPA 2014).

This dissertation explores the fertility and behavioral effects of an increase in contraceptive supply donated to Zambia. Zambia, a high-fertility developing country, receives over 80 percent of its contraceptives from multilateral donors and aid agencies. Most contraceptives are donated and provided to women for free at government clinics (DELIVER 2015). I chose Zambia as a case study to measure the relationship between contraceptive supply and fertility because of two donor-driven events that led to an increase in both the quantity and frequency of contraceptives starting in 2008 (UNFPA 2014). Donations increased because donors and the Zambian government started a systematic method of forecasting contraceptive need on December 2007, and the Mexico City Policy was lifted in January 2009.

In Chapter 1, I investigate whether a large change in quantity and frequency of donated contraceptives affected fertility, using available data on contraceptive donations to Zambia, and birth records from the 2007 and 2013 Demographic and Health Surveys. I use a difference-in-difference framework to estimate the fertility effects of a supply chain improvement program that started in 2011, and was designed to ensure more regularity of contraceptive supply. The increase in total contraceptive supply after the Mexico City Policy was rescinded is associated with a 12 percent reduction in fertility relative to the before period, after controlling for demographic characteristics and time controls. There is evidence that a supply chain improvement program led to significant fertility declines for regions that received the program after the Mexico City Policy was rescinded.

In Chapter 2, I explore the effects of the large increase in donated contraceptives on modern contraceptive uptake. According to the 2007 and 2013 Demographic and Health Surveys, there was a dramatic increase in current use of injectables, implants, and IUDs. Simultaneously, declines occurred in usage of condoms, lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), and traditional methods. In this chapter, I estimate the effect of the increase in donations on uptake, composition of contraceptive usage, and usage of methods based on distance to contraceptive access points. The results show the post-2007 period is associated with an increase in usage of injectables and the pill among women living further away from access points.

In Chapter 3, I explore attitudes towards the contraceptive supply system, and identify areas for improvement, based on qualitative interviews with 14 experts and 61 Zambian users and non-users of contraceptives. The interviews uncover systemic barriers that prevent women from consistently accessing methods, and individual barriers that exacerbate the deficiencies in supply chain procedures. I find that 39 out of 61 women interviewed, both users and non-users, had personal experiences with stock out. The qualitative results suggest that the increase in contraceptives brought to the country after 2007 may have not contributed to as large of a decline in fertility because of bottlenecks in the supply chain, and problems in maintaining stock levels at clinics. I end the chapter with a series of four recommendations for improvements in the supply chain going forward, in light of recent commitments by the Zambian government during the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning.

How did varying levels of intensity of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake differentially affect women’s fertility decisions and children’s health outcomes?

This paper uses a difference in difference model to investigate the impact of a large scale and high mortality 2005 earthquake in Pakistan on women’s fertility decisions and children’s health outcomes. Using a nationally representative, cross sectional DHS data from 2006 and geographical data from USGS, this paper investigates how variation in earthquake intensity levels can differentially impact total fertility for women and the likelihood of children suffering from diseases such as diarrhea, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) and fever. The post-earthquake results demonstrate a statistically significant increase in total fertility for areas closer to the epicenter of the earthquake, within a 100km radius of the rupture surface and at higher altitudes. Similarly, for children who were in-utero at the time of the earthquake, the probability of having early symptoms of ARI or fever was much smaller in lower earthquake intensity zones compared to the highest intensity zone.

Gradient artérioveineux et concentrations interstitielles des bloqueurs neuromusculaires au niveau du muscle : impact sur la modélisation pharmacocinétique-pharmacodynamique

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Soil temperature along a plant diversity gradient in the Jena Experiment (Main Experiment, 2013)

Soil temperature (in °C) was determined using a frequency domain sensor probe (WET-2 Sensor, Delta-T Devices, Cambridge, United Kingdom) on 1st August 2013. The device was inserted from the top 6 cm deep (length of the prongs) into the soil. The average of three measurements on the same day was calculated. All data where measured in the main experiment plots of a large grassland biodiversity experiment (the Jena Experiment; see further details below). In the main experiment, 82 grassland plots of 20 x 20 m were established from a pool of 60 species belonging to four functional groups (grasses, legumes, tall and small herbs). In May 2002, varying numbers of plant species from this species pool were sown in the plots to create a gradient of plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 species) and functional richness (1, 2, 3, or 4 functional groups). Plots were maintained by bi-annual weeding and mowing.

Soil porosity along a plant diversity gradient in the Jena Experiment (Main Experiment, 2013)

Soil porosity is the fraction of total volume occupied by pores or voids measured at matric potential 0. To measure soil porosity, soil samples were taken from each plot using sample rings with an internal diameter of 57 mm and height of 40.5 mm (inner volume of Vs=100 cm3). The samples were placed on a sand bed box with water level set to allow saturation of the samples with water. After 48 h the samples were weighed (ms), oven dried at 105 °C and weighed again to determine the dry weight (md). We calculated soil porosity (n [%]) using the density of water (?w=1 g cm?3), n=100 ? (mw-md) / (?w?Vs). To account for the spatial variation of soil properties, three replicates were taken per plot, approximately 2, 3 and 4 weeks after the flood that occurred at the field site during June 2013. Data are the average soil porosity values per plot. All data where measured in the main experiment plots of a large grassland biodiversity experiment (the Jena Experiment; see further details below). In the main experiment, 82 grassland plots of 20 x 20 m were established from a pool of 60 species belonging to four functional groups (grasses, legumes, tall and small herbs). In May 2002, varying numbers of plant species from this species pool were sown in the plots to create a gradient of plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 species) and functional richness (1, 2, 3, or 4 functional groups). Plots were maintained by bi-annual weeding and mowing.

Soil temperature along a plant diversity gradient in the Jena Experiment (Main Experiment, 2006)

Soil temperature (in °C) was determined using a PT100 resistance thermometer that was inserted 5 cm into the ground. Soil temperature was recorded every hour of the day during July 2006. The average of five monthly measurements of soil temperature was calculated. All data where measured in the main experiment plots of a large grassland biodiversity experiment (the Jena Experiment; see further details below). In the main experiment, 82 grassland plots of 20 x 20 m were established from a pool of 60 species belonging to four functional groups (grasses, legumes, tall and small herbs). In May 2002, varying numbers of plant species from this species pool were sown in the plots to create a gradient of plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 species) and functional richness (1, 2, 3, or 4 functional groups). Plots were maintained by bi-annual weeding and mowing.

Ant abundance and occurrence along the plant diversity gradient in the Jena Experiment (Main Experiment, year 2006)

This data set contains measurements of ant abundance (number of individuals observed at the baits) and ant occurrence (binary data) measured in the Main Experiment plots of a large grassland biodiversity experiment (the Jena Experiment; see further details below). Ants were sampled in 80 plots of the Main Experiment using baited traps in July 2006. In each plot two petri dishes were set on the ground, one received ~10g of Tuna the other ~10g of sugar (Sucrose). After 30min the occurrence (presence = 1 / absence = 0) and abundance (number) of ants at the two baits was recorded. Given is, per plot, the sum of ants attracted to the two different baits. In the Main Experiment, 82 grassland plots of 20 x 20 m were established from a pool of 60 species belonging to four functional groups (grasses, legumes, tall and small herbs). In May 2002, varying numbers of plant species from this species pool were sown in the plots to create a gradient of plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 species) and functional richness (1, 2, 3, or 4 functional groups). Plots were maintained by bi-annual weeding and mowing.